30 Years of Transforming Leadership

In 2025, the National Equity Project celebrated 30 years of transforming leadership.

The Bay Area Coalition of Essential Schools (BayCES) was founded in 1995 as a regional center of the national Coalition of Essential Schools. What began as a regional initiative to support school improvement in the Bay Area evolved into a three-decade movement that has transformed how educators across the country see, engage, and act on equity, leadership, and systems change.

Through name changes and geographic expansion—from BayCES to the National Equity Project—our commitment has remained constant: supporting leaders to create the conditions for improving educational experiences, outcomes, and life options for historically underserved students.

In the spirit of Sankofa, we’re reaching back to share 30 stories from 30 years of innovation, courage, and transformation that continue to shape a national movement for educational equity. By rooting in the stories of our shared legacy, we are renewing our purpose in demonstrating what's possible for transforming public education.

Do you have more to add to any of these stories? Find the entire #NEP30Years campaign on LinkedIn and Instagram to add your own reflections on the impact of NEP’s work and influence over the past 30 years.

In 1995, the Bay Area Coalition of Essential Schools (BayCES) was founded as a regional hub of the national Coalition for Essential Schools, hiring Steve Jubb as its first Executive Director. Initially, the work focused on spreading and supporting CE

In 1995 BayCES was established as a regional center of the national Coalition of Essential Schools (CES). Founded in 1984, CES built a national network of schools that committed to nine Common Principles that emphasized personalized learning, student

LaShawn Routé Chatmon joined BayCES in 2001, beginning a journey that would transform both her career and the organization itself. She served as a coach and director of BayCES' high school redesign initiative, where her team pioneered innovative appr

From 2000 to 2008, BayCES was a catalyst in the Small Schools movement in Oakland, Berkeley, and Emeryville, CA. The small schools philosophy wasn't just about size—it was about creating environments where relationships mattered, where every student

In 2002, BayCES hosted its first Leading for Equity Institute in Sonoma County, convening In 2002, BayCES hosted its first Leading for Equity Institute in Sonoma County, convening school teams to deepen their relationships, leadership practice, and c

In 2005, after more than a decade of coaching in schools across the Bay Area, BayCES formalized what would become a transformative framework: our Coaching for Equity model. The framework articulated 10 core beliefs that challenged conventional coachi

In the late 1990s, East Oakland's Fremont High School was plagued by safety concerns, high dropout rates, and severe underenrollment. It was a place families avoided sending their children if they could. Over 25 years later and across multiple redesi

In 2003, Berkeley High School, one of California’s largest and most diverse high schools, grappled with how to create a more personalized, equitable learning environment for all of their 3,000 students.

Initial change efforts were catalyzed by teach

In 2010, the Bay Area Coalition for Equitable Schools (BayCES) took a bold step forward to become the National Equity Project. This was more than a rebrand, it was a recognition of how our work had evolved beyond our roots as a regional hub of the Co

When Kathleen Osta joined the Bay Area Coalition for Essential Schools (now NEP) in 1997, she brought with her a conviction forged as a Comer Facilitator in Chicago: that creating equitable and thriving schools requires attending to both systemic tra

What does it take to repair trust that's been systematically broken? In 2011, NEP supported WA State's Department of Early Learning, Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, and THRIVE BY FIVE WASHINGTON to update the state’s early learning be

For over a decade, from 2011 to 2022, the National Equity Project partnered with leaders in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to cultivate a powerful network committed to transforming systems and institutions to advance racial equity. Under the leadership of N

In 2016, NEP partnered with colleagues Tania Anaissie, Susie Wise, and David Clifford at the Stanford d.school to explore a critical question: How might human-centered design and design thinking evolve to advance equity? The collaboration resulted in

In 2015, Dr. Micia Mosely came to NEP’s Lashawn Routé Chatmon with a powerful provocation: What would become possible if Black teachers were centered in educational equity work? This sparked a decade-long partnership rooted in a targeted universalism

For over a decade, the National Equity Project has partnered with Aspire Public Schools in their journey to align organizational practice with values. Founded in 1998 by the legendary educator Don Shalvey, Aspire was the first charter management orga

In 2015, NEP launched its Center for Equity Leadership (CEL). Led by Mark Salinas and Colm Davis, the Center was envisioned as a way to connect equity-focused leaders, increase access to NEP's transformative approach, and offer healing, inspiration,

From 2015 to 2018, NEP developed and articulated the Leading for Equity Framework integrating complexity, equity, and liberatory with a powerful heuristic: See, Engage, Act.

This deceptively simple sequence recognizes that meaningful change requires

In 1995, Lisa Lasky received an unusual assignment. Working at the Coalition of Essential Schools' national office in Rhode Island with Ted Sizer, she was asked to move cross-country to grow a Bay Area regional center of CES—which would become the Na

In 2017, Superintendent Kimberly Carter, Ed.D of Battle Creek Public Schools (BCPS), in Battle Creek, MI, reached out to the National Equity Project to support the district's commitment to educational equity. What began as professional development ev

From 2019 to 2021, the National Equity Project engaged in intensive internal conversations to articulate the values that would guide our work—both inside our organization and with partners across the country. The resulting core values shape everythin

In April 2020, NEP’s Hugh Vasquez posed a provocative question: What if we don't return to school as usual? His viral article became a rallying cry, challenging education leaders to see the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to fundamentally redesig

In 2019, NEP’s Kathleen Osta and Hugh Vasquez published an article that went viral, fundamentally challenging how educators approach equity work. "Don't Talk About Implicit Bias Without Talking About Structural Racism" made a critical observation: mo

From 2017 to 2023, the National Equity Project served as a co-leader and learning partner with [PERTS, Consortium, Rally, EdCounsel, Raikes] in the Building Equitable Learning Environments (BELE) Network—a national collaborative bringing together edu

In 2023 NEP launched the District Redesign Network (DRN), a three-year national cohort of school districts committed to deeply understanding their equity landscape and redesigning systems to improve learning conditions for marginalized students.
DRN